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MIT engineers have developed a material 10 times blacker than anything previously reported. Engineers hope the material can be used in optical blinkers that reduce unwanted glare, to help space telescopes detect exoplanets in orbit.
the material consists of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTS) – microscopic carbon filaments that the team developed on a surface of chlorinated aluminum foil. the sheet captures at least 99.995% of all incoming light, making it the darkest material ever recorded. in other words, it reflected 10 times less light than all other superblack materials, including vantablack.
MIT engineers did not intend to create an ultrablack material. instead, they were experimenting with ways to grow carbon nanotubes on conductive materials such as aluminum, in order to improve their electrical and thermal properties.
"I remember noticing how black it was before growing carbon nanotubes, and after growing, it looked even darker," said co-author of the research, former postdoctoral researcher kehang cui, who is now a professor at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
The researchers published their results in the journal ACS-Applied Materials and Interface. the material is also presented as part of an exhibition on the New York Stock Exchange entitled "The Redemption of Vanity".
the exhibition includes a natural yellow diamond of 16.78 carats LJ West diamonds, valued at $ 2 million, covered with ultra-black material. as a result, the multi-faceted diamond appears as a flat black void. The artwork is a collaboration between Brian Wardle, co-author, professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, and his group, and the artist-center scientist and technology of MIT, Diemut Strebe.
"There are optical and spatial applications for very dark materials, and of course, artists were interested in black, well before the rebirth," Wardle said. "Our material is 10 times darker than anything that has ever been reported, but I think the darkest black is a constantly moving target. Someone will find a darker material and we will finally understand all the underlying mechanisms and we will be able to properly design the ultimate black. "
Scientists believe that carbon nanotube forests can trap and convert most of the incoming light into heat, reflecting very little back light, giving CNTs a particularly dark shade. "We know that the forests of CNT of different varieties are extremely black, but it is not clear why this material is blackest. which requires further study ยป Wardle said.
Kieron Marchese I designboom
Sep 16, 2019
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